Jumanji: The Next Levelstar Karen Gillan wants to star in Warner Bros.' upcomingBatgirlmovie as Barbara Gordon, and many DC fans are totally on board with the idea. As the concept has been building up support on social media, word of the potential casting has since made its way to graphic designer Andrea Giglio, who has gone ahead and created some amazing fan art depicting Gillan in the role. You can take a look at the artwork below to get an idea of how Gillan may appear in Barbara’s purple Batsuit.
The rallying of support forKaren Gillanas Batgirl stems from a recent interview with Omelete. Having already appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Nebula inGuardians of the GalaxyandAvengers: Endgame, Gillan was asked if there were any other superheroes from another universe she’d be open to playing next. It wasn’t a difficult question for Gillan, who had this to say in response:
“Batgirl would be pretty cool! Yeah, she’s a redhead!”
That’s not all. In addition to potentially starring in the movie, Gillan also says she’d be up fordirecting the Batgirl movie. When directly asked which superhero movie she would like to direct, Gillan circled back toBatgirl, noting her love forThe Dark Knightand her desire to do something creatively with theBatmanuniverse. From the interview:
“Batgirlwould be cool for that, as well. My favorite film in that world, my favorite one isDark Knight. I just love the way that one is directed so much. So, I would just love to work in that world, as a director. Come on, DC. Look over this way!”
Once word broke that Gillan is game forBatgirl, it wasn’t long before the news started making headlines, picking up steam with fans on social media wanting to see it happen. Even DC Comics writer Gail Simone, who pensBatgirlcomics in addition to other titles likeBirds of Prey,Secret Six, andWonder Woman, has publicly endorsed Gillan as thelive-action Barbara Gordon. “As one of Batgirl’s longest-running writers, I would totally endorse [Gillan] as Batgirl. She’d kill as Barbara. Put Cass in there too!” Simone tweeted. Gillan herself acknowledged the tweet by responding, “Ahh this is so cool!!”
There has been lots of speculation from fans overwho will play Barbara Gordon in the upcoming Batgirl movie, and Gillan’s name is far from the first to come up as a suggestion.Star Warsseries star Daisy Ridley has also had her name come up as a rumored candidate for the part, and she has also been envisioned as Barbara in her ownBatgirlfan art. Whoever ultimately gets the part will be the third person to play a version of Barbara on the big screen, following Alicia Silverstone inBatman & Robinand Hannah Gunn inThe Dark Knight- though she was just a child and didn’t become Batgirl in the latter.
Not much is known about DC and Warner Bros.' plannedBatgirlmovie. Though Christiana Hodson had reportedly signed on to write the screenplay, the project is still without a director or lead star officially attached. With Gillan and so many fans eager to see her in both roles for the project, there’s a good chance we’ll see it happen for real. You can read Gillan’s full interview where she mentionsBatgirlat Andrea Giglio on Instagram.
